C41
Kodak Portra 400
Kodak Portra 400 is a professional C-41 color negative film known for flexible exposure latitude, natural skin tones, and fine grain.
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The Rolleiflex 2.8D (1955) is the fourth model in the Rolleiflex f/2.8 TLR series, produced for approximately one year between the 2.8C and 2.8E. It retains the **Bay III** filter fitting established by the 2.8C, the **Synchro-Compur** leaf shutter (1s - 1/500s + B), and the choice of **Carl Zeiss Planar 80mm f/2.8** or **Schneider-Kreuznach Xenotar 80mm f/2.8** six-element double-Gauss taking lens. The principal introduction on the 2.8D is the **EV (Exposure Value) scale** coupling on the shutter, linking aperture and shutter speed so that changing one automatically adjusts the other to maintain the same exposure value -- a convenience feature Rollei carried forward into the 2.8E and beyond.
Reference
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C41
Kodak Portra 400 is a professional C-41 color negative film known for flexible exposure latitude, natural skin tones, and fine grain.
View profile →BW
Kodak Tri-X 400 is a classic black-and-white film known for strong tonality, visible grain, and documentary character.
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Ilford HP5 Plus is a flexible ISO 400 black-and-white film with classic grain and strong push-processing tolerance.
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About this camera
The short-lived 2.8 bridge body: Bay III, Planar or Xenotar 80/2.8, and the EV scale coupling that the 2.8E would carry forward.
| Field | Value |
|---|
| Format | 120 film, 6x6cm (12 exp per roll) |
| Mount | Fixed, Bay III accessories |
| Taking lens | Zeiss Planar 80mm f/2.8 OR Schneider Xenotar 80mm f/2.8 |
| Viewing lens | Heidosmat 80mm f/2.8 |
| Years | ~1955-1956 |
| Shutter | Synchro-Compur leaf: 1s - 1/500s + B |
| Flash sync | X-sync |
| EV coupling | Yes -- shutter and aperture coupled on EV scale |
| Meter | None |
| Exposure modes | Manual |
| Film advance | Crank (shutter auto-cocked) |
| Viewfinder | Waist-level, matte + sports finder |
| Battery | None |
| Weight | ~ |
Rollei introduced the 2.8D in 1955 as a direct successor to the 2.8C, maintaining all the structural decisions of that model -- Bay III, Planar/Xenotar, Synchro-Compur -- while adding the EV scale to the shutter ring. The EV scale was an industry-wide trend in the mid-1950s: camera and shutter manufacturers coupled aperture and shutter controls to allow a single EV number to represent any combination of aperture and speed that produced the same total exposure, with the intent of simplifying meter-to-camera workflow. Rollei adopted it across the Synchro-Compur-equipped 2.8 and 3.5 bodies of this period.
The 2.8D's production was brief -- approximately one year -- before the 2.8E arrived in 1956 with a selenium exposure meter added to the body. The 2.8D therefore represents a narrow window in the 2.8 sequence: EV coupling without a meter, a combination the 2.8E resolved by adding the selenium cell. For this reason the 2.8D is less commonly encountered than either the 2.8C or the 2.8E.
The 2.8D is the transitional body in the Rolleiflex 2.8 sequence -- the point at which the EV-coupled shutter became standard but before Rollei committed to an on-body meter. For collectors, it represents a clean, no-meter 2.8-class body with the full Bay III accessory compatibility and the same Planar/Xenotar optics as all subsequent models through the 2.8F and GX.
For photographers, the practical significance of the EV coupling depends on use: paired with a hand-held meter that outputs EV numbers, the coupled shutter ring is a genuine convenience. Photographers who prefer to set aperture and shutter independently can disengage the coupling on most Synchro-Compur EV implementations.
The Planar and Xenotar on the 2.8D are optically equivalent to those on all other 2.8-series bodies -- the lens formula did not change between the 2.8C and the 2.8F. Image quality is therefore the same as a 2.8F at a fraction of the used price.
The taking lens is fixed. Bay III accessories are fully compatible across all Bay III Rolleiflex bodies (2.8C through 2.8GX and 3.5E/F):
C41
Kodak Portra 160 is a professional C-41 color negative film with fine grain, soft contrast, and natural color.
View profile →Rollei 2.8D
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